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Tudor (1485-1603 AD)

The first Tudor king was Henry Tudor who became Henry VII. This period started with the aftermath of the ‘War of the Roses’. Henry VII started by disposing his enemies from that earlier event. When Henry VII died in 1509 he had produced a wealthy and stable country, which was handed to his son Henry VIII.

Henry VIII reigned from 1509-1547. Henry handed over the administration of the country to Cardinal Wolsey.

Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragon and they had a daughter. Henry wanted a male heir for the throne and became increasingly desperate as Catherine got older. Henry began eying up one of the queens ladies in waiting called Anne Boleyn. Ann refused the advances unless Henry married her. Henry sent his chancellor Cardinal Wolsey to ask the pope for annulment of his marriage. Cardinal Wolsey failed to get the approval from the pope. Whilst this was happening Anne fell pregnant. Henry was sure this was a son and needed the child to be legitimate. He got parliament to declare his marriage to Catherine void and he married Anne in secret. Anne gave birth to a girl, who in the future became Elizabeth I. Relations between Henry VIII and the pope deteriorated after these events and so in 1534 the Act of Supremacy was passed which made Henry the head of the Church of England.

The marriage between Ann Boleyn and Henry VIII did not last long and he divorced her, had her executed and married and many more times. Eventually Henry got the male heir he wanted, the future Edward VI. Towards the end of his life Henry grew morbidly obese and had to be carried on a chair when indoors.

Edward VI was the heir of Henry VIII, but was only ten when he came to the throne. His reign was very short as he died at the age of sixteen.

After Edward VI the reign of Queen Mary followed and was marked by a period of religious upheaval as she was raised as a catholic and she sought to undo the protestant reforms. Protestants were burned in their hundreds and this earned her the title of ‘Bloody Mary’. It was also around this period that Calais was lost to the French, ending the British presence on the continent that dated back to William the Conquer.

After Mary the throne came to Elizabeth I (1558-1603). She was raised as a protestant. One of the problems that Elizabeth I faced was the catholic Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary was involved in catholic plots to regain power and was eventually executed for treason.

During this period there was also tension with Spain. English sailors had a habit of capturing Spanish ships returning with treasure. Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins were two captains who made their fortunes with piracy.

Tension with Spain was constant during Elizabeth's reign. Philip, who had once been touted as a possible husband for Elizabeth, was now king of Spain. Spain had tremendous wealth pouring into its treasury from its territories in the New World, and English sailors had a habit of piracy. Philip of Spain assembled a fleet of warships to invade England. The English defeated this armada with their lighter and manoeuvrable vessels, use of fire ships and having the weather on their side.

One of the greatest social changes during the early part of the Tudor era was the enclosure movement. Enclosure was the hedging or fencing in of open farmland for the purpose of raising sheep. This had a negative impact on the lower classes who were displaced or lost common grazing privileges.

The Tudor era is also known for the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. England during this period had over 800 monasteries. The idea of the king taking over monasteries came before the falling out between Henry and the church. Henry has earlier received permission from the pope to dissolve some of the smaller monasteries which were believed to be centres of corruption. This released money to the royal coffers. The idea of reformation was taking hold, where the belief was that every single person could have a direct relationship with god and not need the catholic priests and their ceremonies. Henry had inspectors looking for corruption and depravity for evidence for Henry to act. Henry eventually did and wiped out in a short time the monastic life in England. By the end Henry was the undisputed ruler over the people and the Church of England.

It was also during this era that the population of the country increased and so did the economy and trade. During this period new discoveries in science were often published on paper newsletters. This included the work of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus who developed heliocentric theory which placed the sun at the centre of the universe instead of the earth.